How to make the BEST Vegan French Toast! So easy to make in just 10 minutes, using everyday ingredients. You won’t miss the eggs at all in this delicious weekend morning breakfast. A secret ingredient makes these french toast incredibly crisp, thick and perfect!
French toast was one of the first meals I started making for myself as a kid. There wasn’t a lot of cooking or baking going on in my home growing up, in fact I lived on mostly convenience foods like canned spaghettios, ravioli and pop tarts. But we did make french toast a lot, especially on the weekends! It was easy, fast and simply delicious.
I had never made a vegan version of french toast before testing this recipe. Honestly, I was quite doubtful it would work, or be delicious enough to even post here. I have seen recipes for vegan french toast before, but I really couldn’t see how they could possibly taste as good as the nostalgic breakfast of my childhood.
Well, I was SO wrong! My family and I were SHOCKED at how good this vegan french toast tasted, and we ate the first batch up in about 5 minutes flat. Creamy on the inside (but NOT soggy at all), crispy on the outside, with hints of cinnamon and vanilla. The perfect french toast, period, and SO darn easy to make!!
How can I make Vegan French Toast without eggs?
The secret ingredient in my french toast recipe is so common I’m sure you have it in your pantry right now: Cornstarch. It’s perfect for getting that crisp exterior, and works like a charm as the bread cooks in the pan.
Without eggs, your batter for vegan french toast includes these ingredients: Soy milk (or any other non-dairy milk), cornstarch, ground flaxseeds (just a teaspoon, to help thicken the batter), 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (trust me), maple syrup, cinnamon and vanilla.
How do you make vegan french toast?
It’s as easy or easier than the original! Whisk all the batter ingredients in a shallow bowl, large enough to hold a piece of bread.
Heat a little vegan butter or oil in a frying pan. Right before dipping the bread in the batter, whisk the mixture again (cornstarch will settle to the bottom.) Dip a piece of bread in the batter, on both sides, and soak for about 10 seconds.
Add the bread to the pan, and cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side, until golden brown and crispy. Repeat with all remaining bread and batter, then serve immediately with maple syrup, powdered sugar and fresh fruit, if desired.
What kind of bread is best for french toast?
I used a quality loaf of ciabatta that was 1 day old. It was perfect. I wouldn’t recommend using soft sandwich bread, or your french toast runs the risk of being soggy. Thicker sliced bread works best, that is quite dry, such as french bread, sourdough or even a day old baguette. Smaller bread is fine, you will just have more french toast!
I hope you enjoy this Vegan French Toast!!
Want more vegan breakfast recipes? Check any of these out:
- Simple Vegan Pancakes
- Best Ever Vegan Waffles
- Tofu Scramble
- Easy Vegan Quiche
- Cinnamon Sugar Vegan Donuts
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Vegan French Toast
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon ground flaxseeds
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 6-8 slices thick sliced quality bread, such as ciabatta or french
- 2-3 tablespoons vegan butter or coconut oil for frying
- For serving: maple syrup, powdered sugar, or fresh fruit
Instructions
- In a shallow bowl, wide enough to hold a piece of bread, whisk together the soy milk, cornstarch, ground flaxseeds, baking powder, cinnamon, maple syrup and vanilla.
- Add a little bit of vegan butter/coconut oil to a pan over medium-high heat and melt. Whisk the batter again right before dipping bread, as the cornstarch will settle to the bottom of the bowl.
- Dip each side of the bread in the batter and let soak for about 10 seconds, then add the bread to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Add more vegan butter/oil to the pan as needed in between pieces of bread.
- Serve with maple syrup, powdered sugar and fresh fruit, if desired.
Video
Notes
- May use any kind of non-dairy milk, such as soy, coconut, almond, cashew or oat milk.
- For gluten free vegan french toast, use gluten free bread.
- This recipe does not freeze well, and is best served fresh.
Hi. I followed your recipe exactly to prepare for weekend family brunch. The flavor was great, but toast stuck to the well oiled skillet; thus, I had to think quick to avoid family disappointment. So, I carefully removed toast from the skillet on stove and transferred everything to the broiler for a few minutes. Fortunately, the French toast came out magnificently. Husband enjoyed it while licking his fingers, daughter stated it’s great, and I’m pleased. Thanks for sharing your vegan recipe.
What kind of skillet did you use? Was the heat too high? The high heat will caramelize the sugar on the bread almost immediately, which can cause the bread to stick if you aren’t using a non-stick skillet. Regardless, I’m really glad you were still able to make it work and your family enjoyed the french toast!
I was looking for a vegan french toast recipe to use up some old hot dog buns that were sitting in my freezer. Clicked on this one because your simple pancake recipe is my kiddo’s absolute favorite. This is our new favorite. We’ve found that for breakfast bread-y things that the new Silk (cow-patterned) alternative.
I’m really glad that you love the French toast recipe! Thanks for sharing your great feedback!
This is unbelievably good. Not just “good for vegan substitute.” It is the best French toast I’ve ever had. I made homemade blueberry syrup to go with it. It had a lovely crisp crunch on the outside, and a perfectly cooked inside. One of the best vegan recipes I’ve ever tried. THANK YOU!!!
Hi Melanie. You are welcome! How awesome that you loved the French toast, and your blueberry syrup sounds delicious! Thank you for taking time to share your great feedback! Your words make me happy!
Honey, this was MMM MMM good. I had it with a Trader Joe’s hash brown, and I had at least three pieces of french toast. Yas, girl, this is yummy in my tummy!
Hi Tyler. I am so thrilled you love the French toast! It is good stuff! Thank for sharing your wonderful review!
Excellent, easy recipe. Tastes great, too!
Also came here because I got the new vegan brioche from Trader Joe’s, I was apprehensive about this recipe but I knew it had to be good cause you’ve never done us wrong! It is hands down the best vegan French toast I’ve made or had. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Halie. You are welcome! I’m so glad you love the french toast recipe! Thanks for sharing your wonderful feedback!
Hi! I don’t have any flaxseeds. Is there a substitute?
You can likely just leave them out and it will still work. If you have ground chia seeds, those would work as well.
I can’t do corn, would arrowroot starch work in place of it?
Yes, that will work just fine. Enjoy!
Just wanted to share how much I love this recipe! I always get the best french toast. Also, just a little FYI for the vegans living in the US, Trader Joe’s now carriss a vegan brioche bread. ? I’ve been using their bread with Nora’s recipe for the past month and it gives me restaurant style french toast every time.
Hi Jennifer. Thanks for sharing your awesome feedback and idea! I’m so glad you are loving the French toast!
Trader Joe’s just got Vegan Brioche and I knew I wanted to make french toast with it. This recipe turned out perfect! Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, not soggy at all, and it came together in no time! I’ve missed french toast so much!
Sounds delicious! I’m so glad the French toast turned out perfect for you! French toast is a wonderful breakfast! Thank you for taking time to share your wonderful feedback!
Absolutely incredible vegan french toast. Made with GF bread and it tasted wonderful!
Thanks for taking time to share your feedback and review! I’m so glad you loved the French toast!
Wow! Surprisingly good. I actually think it tasted better than the egg version. I had my doubts. Got stuck to the pan a few times but no biggie.
Hi Becky. Thank you for taking time to share your feedback and review! I’m glad you like the french toast!
Absolutely fantastic! I used sourdough bread and canned coconut milk for some extra cream. I didn’t have any cornstarch on hand so I subbed white rice flour and it turned out great 🙂
I was dreaming about French toast last night and I was right to come to Nora to see if she had what I was craving haha.
Hi Jay. I’m happy I have a recipe for what you were craving! Thanks for taking time to share your great feedback and ideas! Glad you loved the French toast!
DELISH!!! Girl, your recipes never let me down- and this one was no different!! I made this recipe exactly as directed but used Trader Joe’s Vegan Brioche (amazing) and pan fried it in coconut oil. This. gave me a fluffy inside and perfect crusted outside. I honestly didn’t miss the egg in this at all! French Toast is something Ive always loved and have really missed since going vegan. Thank you Nora, for giving it back to me!!
Perfection! I used the new Trader Joe’s vegan brioche bread and couldn’t have come out better. Thank you!!
Sounds so delicious! Thanks, Laura, for sharing your great feedback and idea! I’m so happy you loved the french toast!
THIS IS HEAVEN! Beautiful crunch on the crust and soft in the middle. Honestly, it is even better than any regular french toast I have had! I halfed the recipe for a single serving of two slices, and I will definitely be making this for my entire family. The first french toast recipe I tried used JustEgg and it just tasted like egg and not french toast (kind of gross don’t use those recipes), and this tastes amazing without any of that! So easy with simple ingredients, and the cornstarch is brilliant. Made my morning, thank you!!!
You are welcome, Raven! I’m so happy you loved the french toast! Thanks for your wonderful feedback and review! I hope your family enjoys the French toast!
I’ve been vegan for almost 5 years and can count on one hand the number of times I made french toast in the past. I could never find a batter recipe that I liked or that worked well with any type of bread (a lot of recipes that I saw required sturdy, crusty bread) Since finding this recipe 3 months ago, I’ve made it at least 20 times. You absolutely NAILED this one, Nora! Thanks for sharing!!!
I’m so thrilled to know that you are loving my French toast recipe! Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback!
Another awesome recipe. Thank you Nora
You are welcome! Thank you for your great feedback!
Thanks, Nora! This was delicious. I added caramelized bananas for a bananas fosters flavor and I’m stopping myself from making another batch! Incredible!
You are welcome! Your addition of caramelized bananas sounds so delicious! Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback! I’m so glad you loved the French toast!
Unfortunately, this one didn’t work out for me. 99% of the time, I absolutely love Nora’s recipes. Base on so many good reviews, I may be doing something wrong? The bread stuck to the pan so badly that I couldn’t get it off without destroying the bread. I used Caraway pans with Earth Balance butter and Dave’s Killer Bread. Any idea of what I could do differently?
I’m sorry to hear that, Sheila! It sounds like your pan was too hot or you didn’t use enough butter in the pan. The high heat will caramelize the sugar on the bread almost immediately, making it burn or stick. That, mixed with not enough butter or oil, will result in stuck french toast!
If I don’t have thick bread available will regular bread slices work such as Dave’s Killer Bread?
Yes, you can use regular bread instead. Day old bread is always best so, if you can, leave a few slices out on the kitchen counter overnight.
It was SO! DANG! GOOD! We had all the ingredients already, so it was was rather inexpensive to make! Highly recommend!
Thank you for your great review and comments! I’m so glad you loved the fresh toast!
Most delicious French toast I have ever had! And so easy! Followed the recipe and it turned out perfect!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the french toast, thank you!
Quick,easy and tasty. Thanks so much
You are welcome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback!
Delicious!!! Who needs eggs?
Is there a healthy thickener that I can use instead of cornstarch? Making this for my elderly parents who don’t use cornstarch, arrowroot, guar gum, any white/wheat flours etc. Any suggestions would be helpful.
Tapioca starch will work for this recipe. Happy cooking!